Number of Internet crimes rises in 2008

Local data for web-based offenses difficult to track down, police say

Internet crime increased 33 percent nationally in 2008 and the amountof money lost to Internet criminals jumped more than $25 million.Local data for Internet crimes is difficult to track, said DurangoPolice Capt. Micki Browning. She said almost all computer crimes, witha few exceptions, are referred to the Colorado State Treasurer's officeor the FBI because most of the crimes originate in other states orcountries.

"If we can pinpoint that you're at your computer within city limits andyou use your girlfriend's credit card to buy something at Gardenswartz,we can track that; but otherwise establishing jurisdiction is the mostchallenging," Browning said.

The increase nationally was the first after three consecutive yearsthat saw a decrease in the number of crimes committed online, but thedollar value of Internet crime has been steadily on the rise for thelast five years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation released theyear-end numbers Monday. Data was compiled jointly by the FBI and theNational White Collar Crime Center.

The agencies received 275,284 complaints last year with a reported lossof $265 million for an average individual loss of $931. In 2007,206,884 reported crimes accounted for $239 million in losses. Thenumber of crimes reported dropped from 231,493 in 2005 to 207,492 in2006, but the financial damages swelled from $183 million in 2005 to$198 million in 2006 before climbing again to the current figure.

More than 66 percent of reported Internet crimes took place in theUnited States last year and half of those originated in California, NewYork, Florida, Texas, Washington, D.C., and the state of Washington.Significant numbers also originated in the United Kingdom, Nigeria,Canada and South Africa.

Typical Internet crimes include lottery scams, "phishing" forinformation to be used in identity theft, work-at-home scams,property-investment schemes and confidence or advanced-fee frauds,which are commonly presented as African-based charity pleas.